The present invention relates to computer telephony integration (CTI), and more particularly to interfacing with a server-centric CTI architecture.
The telephone is among the most widely used communication equipment in the world. At first, telephones were merely convenient tools to allow people to communicate while physically separated. More recently, many people and organizations use telephones to market products and services, to provide technical support for consumer products, to allow callers to access their own financial data, and so forth. Thus, the telephone is becoming a major business and marketing tool.
In order to more effectively use telephones systems for business and marketing purposes, call centers have been developed. In a call center, a number of agents handle telephone communication with callers. The matching of calls between callers and agents is typically performed by software operating in conjunction with computerized switching equipment.
A simple example is used here to describe a few of the many advantages of using call centers. When a call is made to a call center, the telephone number of the calling line is typically made available to the call center by a telephone carrier. Based on this telephone number, software in the call center can access a database server to obtain information about the caller, using the caller""s phone number as a key. The software routes the incoming call to an agent who can best handle the call based on predefined criterion (e.g., language skill, knowledge of products the caller bought, etc.). The software also causes the information about the caller, retrieved from the database, to be immediately transferred to a computer screen used by the agent. Thus, the agent can gain valuable information about the caller as the call is terminated, or even prior to receiving the call. As a result, the agent can more effectively handle the telephone transaction.
It can be seen from the above example that the enabling technology requires a combination of telephone switching and computer information processing technologies. The term commonly used for such combined technology is computer-telephony-integration (CTI).
In the past, various applications have been developed in association with the computer information processing technologies of CTI. Such applications are often referred to as service desk software. In use, the service desk software facilitates access to data in a database during a telephone call. As mentioned earlier, the data is identified in the database automatically by first ascertaining the identity of a caller using a telephone switch. With this information and under the direction of the service desk software, an operator may access desired data pertinent to providing a particular type of customer service.
Traditionally, the service desk software is installed on a plurality of clients which are hosted by a server that is integral with the CTI architecture. Often, the clients are networked locally in a central location. In some situations, the clients may even be networked between a few established sites. In any case, at least a portion of the service desk software is installed on each of the clients in order to allow proper communication with and access to the CTI server.
While this implementation affords a robust system, limitations exist regarding the flexibility of use. In particular, the foregoing architecture requires that users be present at one of the established sites in order to utilize the system. In the context of call centers, employees must be resident at a central location in order to perform work duties. Even if a wide area network were to be used to access a CTI server from an off-site location, such employees would still be required to install at least a portion of the server desk software on a remote client computer.
There is thus a need for service desk software that allows the use of CTI hardware from a remote location in a convenient, versatile manner.
A system, method and computer program product are provided for allowing a user to remotely interface a computer telephony integration (CTI) architecture. A telephone call is initially received from a caller. Such telephone call is subsequently routed to a remote user. Before or during the telephone call, an identifier associated with the caller is ascertained. Information associated with the caller is then retrieved utilizing the identifier. Further, the information is sent to the remote user utilizing a network such as the Internet. The information is then capable of being viewed using a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) application.
In one preferred embodiment, a log-in request may be received from the remote user utilizing the network prior to providing an interface to the CTI architecture. Such log-in request may be sent using the HTTP application. As an option, the HTTP application may include a network browser.
In another preferred embodiment, the information may be automatically displayed upon the receipt thereof by the HTTP application. This may be accomplished using push technology in the form of a pop-up window or the like.
As an option, the CTI architecture may be a component of a call center. Accordingly, the user may be a call center employee. For additional mobility, the telephone call may even be routed to a cellular phone.
In another preferred embodiment, a method is provided for sending information to be read by a HTTP application. Initially, an event is identified. In response to the event, a uniform resource locator (URL) is generated. Thereafter, the URL is sent to a remote user utilizing a network such that information relating to the event is automatically displayed via the HTTP application. As an option, the event may be a CTI event, as set forth hereinabove. Further, the event may include a request to send a message between the remote user and another user, thus allowing messaging among users.